Oracles of Ice

Oracles of Ice 13

When Gaielle left the rock, she had done so with a heavy heart. She knew she had to leave, though her heart had longed to stay. The water was her home, and she had to answer for her disobedience to her father's orders. She swam past the ancient wreckage of the sunken Eldonian ship and headed toward Berth. The sea grass bending in the current seemed to bow before her as she passed. Schools of fish darted out of her way, and a few crabs scuttled under rocks on the seabed when her shadow cast its darkness over them. The warm water didn't seem as friendly, and the sea life didn't seem as colorful. Nothing was as it had always been.

She approached the outer edge of the reef and stopped, her heart protesting to the visit. A large boulder, crusted with barnacles and lichen, served as her hiding spot. She slunk down beside it until her fin was folded beneath her, resting on the silty seafloor. Merpeople on the outer reef went about their business as they normally did. A few scraped barnacles from the reef. Another was repairing a kelp curtain on a portal. Two mermaids were busy collecting long strands of sea grass into woven baskets, probably so they could weave more. They chattered on as they worked.

Gaielle was nervous about seeing her father, but she decided it would be better to go straight to him rather than to wait for Merrick to find her and call his goons to arrest her. Her brother had always voiced a strong sense of moral obligation to uphold the law of the king, and she hated it. He was young and zealous but hadn't learned compassion yet. Gaielle hoped that one day he would understand, but she knew he would have to endure some sort of loss or suffering in order to feel the pain of someone else and have compassion for others, and she didn't wish that upon him.

Taking a deep breath of determination, she strengthened her resolve and used her fin to thrust up from the seabed. She emerged from the shadow of the rock and headed toward the king's chambers. An ominous fear coupled with a sense of hopeful expectation made her swim through the city slowly. Her body moved her forward though her heart protested. When she neared the reef's entrance to her father's chamber, she paused, resting a hand on the edge of the portal. Only a curtain of kelp and two corridors separated her from the inevitable tongue lashing she was about to endure. She only hoped her father would have mercy and call off the council.

"Gaielle, where have you been?" Galina's shrill voice made Gaielle jerk around. She was alone, and Gaielle breathed a sigh of relief. She captured her sister in her arms and squeezed.

"Galina, I am going to talk to Father. I am going to beg mercy. I will tell him I'll go to live in Ceto to hide the pregnancy if he cancels the council."

"You haven't heard?" Galina's face was pale as if she had seen a shark.

"Heard what?" Gaielle's heart sunk, and she feared her father had already died—that she was too late.

"He has taken a turn, Elle. Father may die soon. He called for you repeatedly, but you weren't here. Merrick sent guards to search. They even prepared to go ashore to search there."

"Then I will go at once..."

"It's too late, Elle."

"Why? What do you mean? He is alive. It's not too late."

"Uru is here. They are in council right now. They are deciding your fate right now. You didn't come to defend yourself. You weren't around, and Merrick told them of your...condition." Galina pointed to Gaielle's stomach and grimaced. "Everyone knows, Elle."

Gaielle swallowed a lump in her throat and let her sister go. Her mind went into overdrive thinking of how she could stop the proceedings.